Writers: Lena Liedl and Faith McCune
Director: Sophie Marsden
The Good Women is set in Switzerland in 1967, where women still haven’t been granted the right to vote. Two women, Bette and Trudy, while incredibly different, are both oppressed in the patriarchal world they live in. Bette is the star of a cooking show, where she longs to share her passion but is continuously belittled by her male director, represented as an overbearing voiceover. Trudy is a housewife who encounters Bette one night, trying to keep away from her abusive husband.
Bette is strong-willed and outspoken but still is unable to stand up to the men who hold power over her, while Trudy is flimsy and lighthearted, despite the deeper resentment she holds inside about her lack of free will. The play sees these two women played by Faith McCune and Lena Liedl, transform from strangers to close companions, with Bette passing onto Trudy some of her confidence to finally leave her husband, and Trudy lending Bette some of her high spirits to not take life too seriously. Both actors have an incredible task of portraying these deeply complex women but do not fail to give convincing and heartfelt performances.
While the premise for this play is certainly unique and has a lot of potential, many times the main theme is dismissed, and the plot becomes more distracted. As there are only two actors to carry the play, many scene transitions are clunky and confusing. They have many beautiful and poignant lines, particularly when each character monologues about their true feelings that they try to keep hidden from the outer world, but many scenes in the dialogue are clunky and halted in their flow. There are also many overlapping lines in the dialogue, but it is unclear whether this is through error or intentionally as it creates static energy.
The actors have the difficult task of keeping the audience’s attention with a very minimal set and design so it would be more engaging to enhance the world-building with lighting design changing to match the location of the scene. The blocking is directed very well to utilise the entire theatre space and creates a more dynamic environment on stage. The atmosphere significantly improves when 60’s music is used as a soundtrack to scenes and reduces the empty pauses that at times feel awkward. More songs would help further emphasise the period as they contribute to the main plotline and prevent too much deviation from the themes originally set up in the opening of the play.
The Good Women has a very promising cast and a unique storyline that has rarely been explored, however, this is somewhat let down through the execution of scenes. There is a lot of promise to this show with more direction.
Runs until 15 June 2024
The Reviews Hub Score
Promising
